Lithographic press.



G. G. GOEDIKE.

LITHOGRAPHIG PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1912.

1,027,722, Patented May 28, 1 912.

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UNITED STATEStPATENT. OFFICE.

GEORGE GUSTAVE GOEDIKE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR LITHOGRAPH COMPANY, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LITI-IOGRAPHIG PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28,1912.

. Application filed February 5, 1912. Serial No. 675,482.

at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lithographic Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a printing mechanism especially ofthe class used in lithographic printing, and it deals with certain improvements in the means instrumental in applying ink to the printing surface whereby, among other things, the consumption of the ink may be reduced, the ink better maintained in the condition best adapted for printing, a more uniform distribution of the ink on the rollers is assured; a more perfect inking to the surface is accomplished, and the successful utilization of an ink of thinner consistency is made feasible.

In lithographic printing it has been customary to use leather-faced rolls, the leather cover of which must be kept soft, impervious to water and contain a grain or nap for,

inking the printing surface. These rolls are commonly mounted in pairs and are superposed by a roller of steel having a smooth polished perpihery, the function of which is to spread the ink uniformly on the ink rolls. The latter in certain types of machines are supplied with ink by first rolling them over an ink plate which carries a continuous film of ink, and thereafter such rolls are moved off the inking plate onto the printing surface in accordance with the design composed of locally prepared surfaces capable of tak ing such ink and other surfaces adapted to repel the ink. The superposed roller functions as aforesaid in promoting a better and more even distribution of the ink on the inking rolls, and, to enable the latter to run as freely as possible without any slippage on the printing surface, the steel faced distributing roller commonly derives its motion from a gear rather than from the ink rolls, so that the latter may be said to be rotated in part by their contacts with the printing surface, and in part by their peripheral contacts with the distributing roller. This polishedsteel roller is heavy and supported by the inking rolls so as ,to press the same against the printing surface, and in practice it is found to introduce certain difficulties after a period of usef That is to say, the

leather faced rolls have a rough, fibrous, peripheral surface providing a nap adapted. for inking purposes in lithographic printing, and after a time, under the continuous rolling action of the polished steel roller, this desired pad-like, villous surface is smoothed down andv compacted, and ultimately becomes more or less glazed and clogged so that it is no longer capable of perfectly exercising all its peculiar functions, and it will then cause the ink to gather, congeal and thereupon emulsify with the water used to dampen the surface in chemical printing. The rolls must then be removed, cleaned and restored to proper condition. The polished steel roller also ap pears toundergo an alteration in its surface either of a purely physical character, or by some superficial chemical reaction with some of the ingredients of the ink or wit-h the gallic or tannic acid used in keeping the printing surface in better condition for differentially taking the ink, and, as a result of this, films of more or less hardened inks appear to locally adhere to the same, and this materially impedes its distributing capacity.

It may also be observed in certain classes of Work involving delicate shade printing, that it would be very desirable to use thinner inks than are commonly employed, but the main reason this is not done lies in the fact that the polished steel distributing roller will not carry uniformly and distribute the ink efiiciently, or properly and effectively perform its'various functions unless the ink is sufficiently thick.

The prepared surfaces of the stone or printing surface necessarily possess a more accentuated diflerential effect with respect to thin ink than to a thick ink by reason of the increased contents of oil and the greater degree of fluidity. There are other more or less refined peculiarities inherent in the customary arrangement which, being well recognized by practical lithographers, require no analysis here. v i 7 One object within the contemplation of this invention is to effect an improvement in the aforesaid inking mechanism whereby superior results may be obtained by its use, and whereby the necessity for removing and refinishing the leather rolls will less frequently occur.

A primary object is to effect an improvement materially curing the difficulties heretofore experienced as well as providing the new capacities herein specified, and especially to do so in an essentially simple manner without adding to the number of parts by merely effecting in the present smooth, polished distributing roller a change of so simple a character that it may easily be made by any machinist without material expense, and as a result of which change it may operate simultaneously to surface as well as to evenly ink the ink rolls.

Another object is to devise and render available an arrangement and construction whereby the leather faced inking rolls may be longer maintained in their superior condition, and whereby the distributing capacity of the superposed roller may be materially enhanced, and whereby the surface of said roller may be more permanently maintained in a condition such that its action remains uniform.

Another object is to embody permanently into a printing mechanism a roll-surfacing element which is so constructed that this function, not-withstanding its being continuously performed, is so nicely graduated and proportioned that the inking rolls will neither be unduly worn (by a long and continuous period of its simultaneous ink distributing operation) nor be permitted to glaze or become inefficient as inking elements.

Other objects will be in part pointed out. or apparent from the following description, and in part obvious from the annexed drawings.

In order that this invention may be more fully disclosed and made comprehensible to those skilled in the art to which it relates, drawings exemplifying the same in a more or less diagrammatic manner have been annexed as a part of this disclosure, and in such drawings like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, of which Figure l is an end elevation showing a portion of the periphery of a cylindrical printing surface upon which rolls a pair of suitably faced inking rolls, which in turn are superposed by a distributing roller constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 represents corresponding elements in a fragmentary perspective view, showing the usual connection whereby the driving of the distributing roller may be effected without imposing unnecessary work on the inking rolls and perhaps in a manner assisting the rotation of the latter. Fig. 3 diagrammatically represents in longitudinal section an inking arrangement as used with a reciprocating stone and in which the distributing rollers are supposed to be surfaced in accordance with this invention. Fig. 4 diagrammatically represents, in a somewhat exaggerated manner, the crosssection of a distributing roller having a surface as proposed by this invention.

Continuing now by way of a more detailed description, this invention proposes to do away with the ordinary distributing roller having the usual polished, peripheral surface, and to replace it by a roller surfaced in an entirely different manner, 2'. e. knurled so as to give it a minutely scored or stippled surface, preferably presenting a peripheral series of minute and closely sembled grooves somewhat as represented by 19 in Fig. 4, together with analogous ridges such as 20 which trend in an axial direction. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, this distributing and surfacing roller indicated by 1 is shown mounted on a suitable shaft 1 which may be driven if desired through suitable gears 2, 3, and at, operatively connected either with the member that supports the printing plate or the means for driving the same. The periphery 5 of this roller may be formed by nurling the surface of an ordinary smooth roller, as by a suitable nurling tool secured in the carriage of a lathe arranged to continuously feed the full length of the simultaneously rotated roller. For this purpose the knurl may be of that type which produces longitudinal ridges, so that the grooves may be disposed more or less longitudinally along the periphery of the surface ink distributing roller. These grooves and ridges may be continuous or broken, and the sections thereof may be alined or offset, preferably, however, in the form of a symmetrical pattern. Instead of being formed by a nurling tool, they may be cut by any suitable appliance. The surface has been formed in practice with great success however with a nurling tool producing axial ridges spaced apart, say about one thirtieth of an inch. The inking rolls have a leather-like surface 7' and are indicated on Fi s. 1 and 2 by the characters 6 and 7, and as shown in this instance, mutually roll on the platen or printing plate indicated by 8. It has been found in practice that the patterned surface 5 of the distributing roller 1 may be more-or less acquired by the leather facing 7 of the inking rolls 6 and 7, and that the latter tend to very delicately and almost invisibly transfer the same to the printing plate or stone, ultimately yielding a softer screen-like under-eifect in the printed matter. The feasibility of the use of thinner inks with this arrangement, than has been possible or practical with the ordinary construction, has been demonstrated by practical service with experienced operators. It has also been discovered, in addition to the above mentioned capacities, that the distributing and surfacing roller, probably by the capillarity of its grooves or pockets, possesses the capacity of taking a uniform and continuous film of such thinner ink without giving evidence of blotches or striations, and in turn it is able to evenly spread the same on the inking rolls and prevent the ink from laying fiat on the leather formroll, and thereby prevents the leather itself from becoming glazed, and furthermore by continually cutting through the film of ink on the form rolls, it is caused to pass away and be consumed on each impression, 'thus allowing new ink to replace it. This characteristic capacity of this apparatus is extremely valuable in that it enables the printer to more perfectly reproduce crayon tints and shadings by reason of the fact that the lithographing surface is differentially more sensitive to inks possessing increased percentage of oil, premoted by the better nap and more delicate contacting of the inking rolls, whereby they are able to better apply such ink to the compatible surfaces, of the printing plate and to thereupon remove excess amounts of such ink exactly as required to perfectly reproduce the design.

Fig. 3 shows a reciprocating table 9 on which is carried the inking tablet 10, which receives its supply of ink from the trough 11, through the rolls 12 and 13. A plurality of rollers 14, 15, 16 and 17, are employed to even out the film of ink on the tablet 10, through its reciprocation and this tablet is thereupon carried under and in contact with the rolls 6 and 7 surmounted by the distributing roller 1, (which set may be duplicated as shown), constructed as described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. As a result of this, the film of ink on the tablet 10 is more or less taken up by the ink rolls 6 and 7 and worked up into a proper consistency and distributed more perfectly thereon by the surfacing and distributing roller 1, so that when the lithographing stone 18 passes under the same, it will be differentially inked in accordance with its design. I

It will thus be perceived that this invention is not only essentially simple in character, but well adapted to successfully fiopies of this patent may be obtained for achieve the above mentioned objects and advantages. In the old arrangement, two influences have operated to hasten the compacting of the nap of the inking rollers, 71.. e. the smooth faced superposed roller and the surface of the form or printing plate. The more imperfect the nap may be the more its resiliency and inking capacities are diminished, and the more it requires to be contacted with the printing plate; this in turn accentuates the wear and deterioration of the prepared printing surface, and otherwise impairs the stone, as by crumbling the edges of the design. By reason of the superior nap produced and maintained by this invention, however, a more delicate adjustment of the inking rolls relative to their co-action with the printing surface becomes available, enabling the refinements in printing to berealized which heretofore have been unattainable in long and continuous runs. The effect of the smooth surfaced printing plate in condensing the surface of the inking rolls is poportionally diminished, thetendency of the ink to emulsify with water reduced, and its consistency is maintained, and its application to the plate is accomplished without injuring or unduly impairing the differential ink-taking capacity of the platesurface.

Having describedmy invention, I claim A lithographic printing instrumentality of the nature disclosed, combining a traveling plate having a lithographing surface, an inking roll mounted to have a rolling contact with said surface, and peripherally faced with a leather-like surfacing, and a roll-surfacing and distributing roller having a knurl-like surface rotatively contacting with the inking surface ofsaid roll.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto setmy hand.

GEORGE GUSTAVE GOEDIKE.

W'itnesses:

OLIVER B. KAISER, CLARENCE B. Fos'rnn.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 7 

